


Special Engagement

by wraisedbywolves



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Barbara Gordon is Oracle, Circus, Family Bonding, Gen, Multi, Not the primary focus of the story, Sorry for all the tags I'm just trying to be thorough, Tagged relationships are background or budding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-29
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-08-11 20:44:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7907083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wraisedbywolves/pseuds/wraisedbywolves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce and the family take a much-needed day off to go to a very important performance. Duke may still be getting used to how things work around Wayne Manor, but he's starting to think he likes it here.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Special Engagement

**Author's Note:**

> Big thanks to darklordavy and silencing for the beta!

“Drake! No one cares what you wear to see your stupid boyfriend! I demand that you come out of there and get downstairs so we can leave.”

“He’s not my boyfriend! He’s just--you know, it would be shitty to leave him behind if Harper is coming, and--”

“Your absurd excuses are meaningless, Drake, and if it were my choice we would simply leave you behind but father insists that would be unnecessarily rude.”

Duke sighed, listening to the raised voices drifting down the manor’s central staircase with bemused resignation. The first few days he’d been a bit alarmed by Damian and Tim’s constant fighting, but it had quickly become the meaningless background noise of life at the manor. According to Alfred they were improving, actually, since the arguments so rarely came to blows anymore. He didn’t want to think about what that must have been like; he’d seen them both in action during their night work, and had to think a considerable amount of destruction was possible. 

Tim was launching into another stammering justification of whether or not anyone was his boyfriend when Cass emerged into the hallway and walked to join Duke at the bottom of the stairs. She smiled at him and he smiled back, snorting slightly as she rolled her eyes and tilted her head towards the the voices from above. She was wearing a navy and white striped sundress that seemed odd compared to her usual black and gold costume, but Duke thought it suited her. Despite the truly exceptional violence Cass was capable of, he’d learned quickly that she was a kind person and loved to indulge in little moments of girlish luxury when things were calm.

“Maybe we should go ahead and wait outside, let them work things out,” Duke suggested. Cass nodded in agreement, and led the way to the front door. 

It was a stunning summer day; bright, but not so hot that the sun felt oppressive. Even a household so used to the dark of night couldn’t grumble about the weather. A breeze ruffled the vast lawns, and while the opulence of it all still made Duke a bit uncomfortable, he took a deep breath of the fresh, open air and smiled as Cass did the same. Bruce and Alfred were at the end of the front walk talking about something, and both turned to look up at Duke and Cass. It was odd to see Bruce out of a suit, either of the business or Bat variety, but his concession to the casual atmosphere and the warm weather came in the form of charcoal grey slacks paired with a plain white shirt with the top two buttons open and the sleeves pushed to the elbows. Alfred had refused to deviate from his own suit, but he wore it less stiffly than Bruce. A small smile drew Bruce’s face out of its usually severe cast at the sight of them, and Alfred chuckled.

“I take it Masters Timothy and Damian are still engaged in some manner of disagreement?” he asked, an amused smile crinkling the corners of his eyes.

“Yeah,” Duke answered with another snort. “Something about what Tim wants to wear.”

“Well, I hope for everyone’s sake that they resolve the matter shortly. It will take several hours to get there, especially if we’re obeying the speed limit today,” Alfred said. “Fortunately, we couldn’t ask for better weather. I’m sure Master Richard will be very pleased.”

Duke heard a faint buzzing noise as he and Cass came down the front steps to join them at the end of the walk. Alfred looked down at the tablet in his hands before tapping a quick command into it. 

“Ah, that will be the Rows. I do wish they would simply agree to be picked up rather than taking the bus all the way here.”

Duke understood why Harper and Cullen insisted on getting themselves to the manor when they did come. Alfred might have been comfortable taking a Bentley into the Narrows, but it would still raise some serious eyebrows with the neighbors. Duke wouldn’t want to be picked up there either. He did have to agree, though, there was something odd about the sight of two people actually walking all the way up the long drive from the main gate to the house itself.

Cass smiled widely and hurried out to greet them before they made it all the way, hugging first Cullen and then Harper. No one trained to observe the way they all were could miss the way she lingered with her arms around Harper, or how she briefly turned toward her before they separated. Their faces were hidden by angle and distance, but only sheer stubbornness could possibly allow Bruce to believe that there hadn’t been a kiss. Duke had no doubt at all. When they did make it to the front walk, though, Cullen was the one who looked a bit embarrassed. Duke smiled and waved at him, and got the same in return despite Cullen’s nervous body language.

“Hey man, how’s it going?” Duke asked, nodding to Harper as well.

“Oh, it’s good! Got my essay for Parson done early,” said Cullen with a slightly less nervous smile, “So I don’t have that hanging over me any more.”

Duke, Cullen, Tim, and their friend Steph all went to the same school. Duke strongly suspected that Bruce was paying for all four tuition bills, although he might have used scholarships to make sure Harper and Cullen didn’t feel they were being treated as a charity case. Duke had made a few other friends right away, but there was something comforting about hanging out with people that he didn’t have to worry about hiding his ‘second job’ from. They got together at the manor for video games or movies once or twice a week if there was time to relax.

Finally, when it looked like Alfred was ready to go inside and drag Tim and Damian out by their ears, the front door opened to reveal them still bickering. The volume had gone down, at least.

“At last, we might consider departing,” said Alfred, suppressing another soft chuckle. “Now, as I have already pointed out Master Bruce, the only vehicle which will accommodate the entirety of our party is the limousine. Unles you’re interested in buying a city bus, our options are limited. I realize that it may seem excessive, and that Master Richard may find it somewhat embarrassing, but with so many--”

Another buzz from the tablet in his hand interrupted him. Alfred frowned down at it, and then Duke saw his eyebrows raise by a fraction of an inch. For Alfred, that could almost be classed as an expression of shock.

“Ah. Well, it appears we may not have to purchase a bus quite yet,” Alfred collected himself and tapped another command on the tablet. At the far end of the drive, the main gate swung open. Everyone turned to watch a cherry red convertible roll through the gate and up the drive, smooth as silk. When it pulled up in front of them, Harper gave a whoop of laughter and Damian rolled his eyes.

Kate Kane sat behind both the wheel and a pair of oversized sunglasses, smiling widely. Next to her was Steph, the last member of the cape and mask set from Duke’s new school--she reached out to high-five Harper with a huge grin.

“So, who all needs a ride?” asked Kate, leaning back with her hand just barely brushing the top of the steering wheel.

“I didn’t expect to see you today, Kate,” said Bruce, and while he might have sounded calm and steady, Duke had picked up enough tells to know that he was genuinely startled by her arrival at his front door. Duke had heard about Batwoman, of course, but hadn’t actually met her yet--if not for Steph, who loved to talk about Batwoman, he might not have believed that this really was her. Or, for that matter, that she was really Bruce’s cousin and another of the elite of Gotham. Her buzzed red hair bucked the society ideal, but the controlled ease of her movements did speak to something military. 

“I’ve listened to you brag about Dick Grayson since the day you took him in,” Kate said, rolling her eyes, and then broke the feigned annoyance with a grin. “I wouldn’t miss a chance to see him under the lights. Besides, it’s a gorgeous day to get out of the city for a little while.” 

“I told her,” Cass murmured, her head tilted just slightly toward Duke. She looked and sounded very pleased with herself for thinking of it. Duke thought she should be; everybody needed a break now and then, even the unstoppable Batwoman.

“Come on, Cass, let’s let the boys brood in their own car,” said Harper, catching Cass’s fingers with her own and tugging her over to the convertible. Steph bounced up and down slightly as Harper, then Cass, cleared the side of the car and landed neatly in the narrow confines of the back seat. Duke almost laughed, watching Bruce draw his shoulders up for a moment as though he might object before thinking better of it. He sighed, shaking his head fondly, then turned to Alfred and asked him to go get something other than the limo.

“See you at the big top, Bruce.” said Kate, putting the car smoothly in gear and pulling out onto the long drive. 

\---

Once the matter of the cars was settled, they were able to get moving more efficiently than even Duke expected. He pointedly took the seat next to Damian in hopes of minimizing the inevitable barbs between him and Tim, leaving Tim and Cullen to share the far back with an extremely careful space between them. The discomfort between the pair read ‘crush’ from approximately the stratosphere as far as Duke was concerned, but he wasn’t about to make that any of his business. 

“It certainly is pleasant to see the whole family together for a change, Master Bruce,” said Alfred, smiling as he glanced into the rearview mirror. “Or nearly. Ms. Gordon has informed me that she will arrive later, and I’m afraid Master Jason appears to be out of Gotham for the time being.” Duke didn’t miss the way sorrow tinged Alfred’s voice, but that seemed to be a typical reaction when the subject of Jason came around. Whatever had happened over the years, it was clear that the prodigal son was always missed.

“We did try to reach him,” said Bruce rather brusquely. “No luck.”

“Well, it shall still be a fine day,” Alfred decided, nodding to himself, “And I’m quite certain that Master Richard will be very glad to see everyone else.”

Duke lost track of the quiet conversation from the front seat when Tim and Cullen started talking about a new game he hadn’t tried yet; once they breached the awkwardness hovering over them, even Damian was drawn into a debate about tactics and equipment in the game. Damian disagreed with Cullen’s opinion that it was okay to pick a character just because you liked playing them even if it wasn’t the most optimal choice for the team, and made sure that everyone understood how indignant he was with the suggestion that ‘fun’ didn’t always mean ‘winning.’

The bustle and noise of highways gave way to country roads after the first hour, and while none of them ever seemed to fully relax Duke did notice a slight ease creeping over everyone as the scenery rolled by like some vast painting about the American spirit. It reminded Duke of going away to summer camp the few times he’d done it; they’d never had much money around, but they never went hungry and his parents liked to set aside a little bit for indulgences. Two years in a row, his reward for good grades had been a YMCA camp a few hours west of the city, far enough that you couldn’t even see the smog or the lights. The air smelled fresher out there, even filtered through the car’s AC, and the green of grass and trees was everywhere.

He wondered if any of the others had ever done something as normal as summer camp. Tim came from a well-off background and had gone to a boarding school; maybe that was similar. Cullen, from what Duke had seen and guessed, had grown up just on the other side of the poverty line from his own family. Harper was clever and had always taken good care of both of them, but he didn’t think she’d had much time to worry about things beyond getting food on the table and keeping the bullies at bay. Damian… Well, Duke wasn’t entirely clear on how Damian had grown up, but he was fairly sure that any mother who called the year leading up to her son’s tenth birthday “The Year of Blood” wasn’t the type to let him spend time around normal kids.

The drive took just shy of three hours, and Duke was deeply grateful that the topic of videogames had been enough to keep the peace in the back seat. The route seemed to be taking them through an impressively tiny town--just a handful of houses clustered around a gas station that doubled as a pizza place--and the last turn almost looked like it was taking them up someone’s driveway. Alfred slowed the car as the gravel drive petered out into a scrubby looking field. Just as Bruce leaned forward to check that the GPS wasn’t malfunctioning, they crested a hill and saw it; nestled at the bottom of a small valley was the riotous expanse of Haly’s Circus.

It looked like someone had spilled a box of colorful toys on a giant’s carpet. Trailers and tents were clustered at the far end, and paths worn into the grass led from them to the big top, striped like candy and lined with flags that snapped smartly in the breeze. Animal pens and food vendors spread out around it so that the arrangement had to be two or three times the size of the town that proudly claimed to be hosting the circus. The sun was just starting to sink towards the hills on the far side, painting long orange shadows out over the grass that made the whole place look even more dreamlike. Duke couldn’t stop staring, trying to take in all the details and finding himself overwhelmed. It was strange to see the bustling chaos of the circus set up so far from civilization, and that made it all the more surreal.

He had asked around in advance, and found out that Haly’s generally considered Gotham to be cursed. It was true that they hadn’t had a show go off without a hitch there in years, so he couldn’t really blame them for their caution. As a compromise, they’d chosen a rural location that was reasonably accessible to several major cities--the crowd could be lured from Gotham, the ‘Haven, Metropolis, and New York all at once. It was out of the way, but they offered a lower ticket price for the inconvenience and had gone all out to make it the best show they could possibly put on.

Incidentally, that was why they were here at all. Part of the draw was rarity, and to that end Haly’s had promised something big; the return of a Flying Grayson, a special engagement for this run only. They were doing a whole series of special classic acts, culled from the heart of the American imagination. Haly’s had always traded on the traditional circus experience, with a canvas tent and sawdust on the floor, but they were really taking it up a notch by including a proper sideshow and a plethora of rare stunts. 

A pair of clowns directed them into the parking area, gesturing broadly and tumbling over one another in their apparent haste to get the rows laid out straight. Damian rolled his eyes with an exaggerated sigh, but Duke thought it was clever. They were actually very good tumblers, feigning clumsiness for laughs but putting every limb--and every car--exactly where it ought to be.

\---

The parking area was busy, but not packed yet--it was still an hour until showtime and the crowd was starting to gather. Kate, Steph, Harper, and Cass were waiting for them near the edge of the parking area, each holding an iced lemonade and the other three laughing at a story Steph was telling with arm gestures that put her at risk of spilling her drink. Alfred and Bruce trailed slightly behind the pack as the younger generation pooled back into a single larger group. Kate edged out to join them. 

“Sometimes you forget they’re still just kids,” she commented, taking a sip of her lemonade.

“They’re not just anything,” said Bruce. Alfred narrowed his eyes in disapproval and he quickly corrected himself, “They are kids, but they’re remarkable ones.”

“They are that,” Kate agreed. “But it’s good to let them get away from all that sometimes. This was a good idea, Bruce.”

Duke watched with a grin as Damian peeled away to demand an iced drink of his own. He didn’t need Bruce to buy him anything--they all had credit cards to cover incidentals--but he was always keen to make sure he had his father’s eye and approval. It was agreed that everyone ought to get something to keep them hydrated, and the unruly mob shifted in towards the concessions to pick out drinks and snacks. Duke trailed behind the main body of the group, taking in the scene all around with fresh eyes and trying to commit the cheerful details to memory. He had been to Amusement Mile as a kid, but the memories of those trips were soured by the more recent overlay of tragedy and carnage. He repressed a shudder at the memories.

Duke continued to hang back a bit at the concession stands, watching the others clamor and tease one another. Damian made loud demands and insisted that he shouldn’t have to share his funnel cake while Tim insisted that no one wanted to share with him anyways. Harper was ordering one of everything and convincing Cass to try each item in turn. Harper’s face lit up each time Cass picked out a snack that she liked, and the ones she didn’t care for were passed on to someone else. Steph ended up with an armload of extra goodies, and looked quite pleased with her haul. Duke felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to find Alfred smiling fondly down at him.

“I do hope you’ll enjoy yourself this evening, Master Duke,” he said. There was something tired about his eyes even through the smile.

“Thanks, I’m sure it’ll be a lot of fun,” said Duke.

“These nights off are rare, and richly deserved. If ever you need to take a break, please don’t hesitate to say so--Master Bruce may not always hear you, but I endeavor to ensure the happiness of all those in my care and I will not allow him to bully you past your limits. There’s fight in this old soldier yet,” Alfred added, his smile taking on a wry turn.

Duke laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind. You want anything?” he asked, tilting his chin toward the concession stand, where a clear space had finally formed in the wake of Damian, Harper, and Steph. Tim and Cullen were standing off to the side, and even from a mile away it was obvious to Duke that Tim was trying to work up the courage to offer to share a snack while maintaining his casual facade. 

“Alas, pure sugar and deep-fried cheese are not to my taste. Enjoy yourself, Master Duke.”

Once everyone was settled with their various cotton candies and bags of popcorn, they shifted around to the far side of the big top where the animal pens were lined up. The enclosures stood in a neat and orderly row so that their inhabitants could enjoy the fresh air before the show. A team of bright white horses milled about in the closest paddock, but beyond that were a pair of tigers, a riotous flock of parrots, and the elephants who were always featured on Haly’s posters. They had hardly rounded the corner when Damian began to insist that he ought to be able to keep a tiger at the manor, and Bruce was so busy informing him in no uncertain terms that Goliath was bad enough that he didn’t noticed a pair of figures standing at the far end of the row.

Duke, on the other hand, immediately recognized the impossibly graceful figure of Dick Grayson. He never seemed to stand fully still, but rather than restless it made him seem elegant. He was engaged in an animated conversation with a man just a bit taller than him, leaning in to emphasize his point with a comfortable, familiar gesture. Dick was already dressed for the show, and looked like he could have lived his whole life in costume and been perfectly happy, while his companion wore ripped jeans and a white t-shirt. He was holding a red motorcycle helmet under his arm.

Dick spotted the small crowd over his companion’s shoulder, and when they both turned to look Duke realized that the taller man was Jason. He had been in town, it seemed; just not interested in taking calls from Bruce. He had only met Jason out of costume a few times, but Duke had found that he liked him better than he'd expected to. From hearing Damian talk, he'd expected to find that the Red Hood was just as violent and unpredictable in his day to day life as he was in his 'professional' role. Duke had never seen him at the manor proper, but he had run into him in the Cave once. Jason had stopped to ask Duke how he was, and to offer a tip on how to get take-out from the city to deliver all the way out there.

Dick’s face lit up at the sight of all of them, and he sprang into motion immediately. Jason trailed behind him, his expression guarded.

"Can't believe you guys actually came!" Dick cried, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he took in the chaotic mass of his 'family' all in one place. "It's going to be a great show, you won't regret taking the night off."

A ghost of a smile crossed Bruce's face. "Wouldn't miss it for the world, Dick. Besides, I've got the League on call in case anything major comes up."

Duke chuckled, and he wasn't the only one. Trust Bruce to have the big guns ready if they needed reinforcements. Dick laughed aloud, and threw an arm around Bruce's shoulder in a sort of half hug. He ignored the way Bruce stiffened up under the embrace, and Duke could have sworn he saw Dick stifle a laugh at Bruce's discomfort. 

Jason was still hanging back a bit, but Alfred stepped over toward him with a smile while Dick greeted everyone else individually. Dick had a way of talking to each person like they were the center of the world, and when he got to Duke he found himself wondering how Dick could possibly make it feel like the sun rose and set for you with just a smile and a 'hello.'

"Heard the training's going well, everybody's really impressed," said Dick, still smiling. 

"Well, you know, I just have to keep it up," Duke answered. He smiled, then hesitated slightly to check that Bruce wasn’t standing too close. His voice dropped slightly to add "It's a lot."

Dick nodded, and Duke remembered the first time they'd met, back when he was just one of a hundred kids trying to stir up the right kind of trouble. His first impression of Dick had been someone strong and compassionate, someone who shouldered the burden for others whenever he could. Dick had said that they were alike, that they were both leaders, and Duke hoped he was living up to it. The world around him had become a very strange place, and the best he could do was try to help make it a better one.

"Yeah, it's overwhelming in a lot of ways,” said Dick. “But you're doing great, and no matter how dark things seem sometimes remember that you're never alone.” He paused, then grinned. "It's pretty much impossible to get a moment to yourself with this crowd!"

They both laughed, and Dick squeezed his shoulder before moving on to ruffle Damian's hair and dodge a punch for it. Duke turned to wave to Jason, who was clearly teasing Tim about something. He had more or less joined the group, but Duke could see that he was carefully keeping a few people between himself and Bruce. When Tim moved away to escape whatever Jason had been taunting him with, Jason moved back to add Harper and Cass to his buffer zone. 

Once Dick had gotten around to everyone, he told them that they’d better make sure they had time to see the sideshow. 

“I have to get up and check the rigging before the show, but they’ve got a proper ten-in-one going this time and you really don’t want to miss out,” he said, grinning like a kid. “There’s this great new magician, and Tommy is back with his original fire-eating routine.”

\---

The sideshow really was something special. Haly’s took its commitment to classic circus style seriously, and Duke felt like the whole thing could have come straight out of a movie about the heydey of the midway. The fire eater had to be in his 60s, but performed with all the flair of a younger man and told wicked, teasing jokes between tricks. The magician was more understated with a quiet, clever demeanor, but even Bruce and Tim seemed unsure about how he was pulling off the various illusions. Damian leaned over and told Duke in a conspiratorial whisper that he was glad; they usually ruined anything like that by explaining how it was done afterward. From there they went on to see a pair of contortionist twins, a second daredevil who focused on a human blockhead act instead of fire, and half a dozen other oddities at the top of their game.

When they left the tent, the sun was low on the hills and the lights had come up all around the big top. Duke was relieved to find that despite his earlier worries, everything at Haly’s was well-lit and in good fun. The idyllic late summer meadow surrounding the tents was nothing like Amusement Mile, and the muffled strains of music from the various acts had no sinister undertones. The clowns were painted, of course, but all the designs were round-edged, almost bubbly; he suspected that was a deliberate choice so close to Gotham. He could almost feel the tension from the people around him draining away as the evening hurried on to the big show, finding that even Kate and Bruce moved more lightly and laughed more easily.

Harper and Steph were leading the charge to get more popcorn when Duke realized that he hadn’t seen Damian or Jason since the second to last act in the sideshow. Letting the rest of the group go, he doubled back to see where they had gone.

He paused at the corner of the sideshow tent, catching sight of the pair just beyond a pickup truck loaded up with extra hay for the animal enclosures. Neither one noticed him. They were standing a few feet apart, but both had their heads tilted inward and their voices pitched low as though to avoid being overheard. He couldn’t make out what either one was saying, but Damian looked uncomfortable and Jason wasn’t looking directly at him as he spoke. Duke had liked Jason the last few times they met, but there was still something that made him a little uneasy as he watched. After a moment he made up his mind and stepped out around the corner with a wave.

“Hey, Damian! You’re missing out on extra popcorn,” he called, smiling as though he hadn’t realized he was interrupting something. Damian started, then scowled for a moment, but took the opportunity to pace quickly away from Jason. Watching him square up his skinny shoulders would have been funny if he hadn’t looked so distraught, but he covered it quickly with a more typical expression of disdain. Jason frowned slightly at Duke, and didn’t come closer.

“You coming, Jason?” Duke asked, his smile faltering slightly. He wasn’t sure whether it was a good idea to invite him, but it was worth a shot.

“Nah,” said Jason, one corner of his mouth twitching up into a half-hearted smile. “I’ll pass.”

Duke shrugged, and took one last look at Jason before turning to lead Damian back to the group. He wasn’t sure what he saw when he looked at Jason. He looked… haunted, almost. Uncomfortable, but trying to hide it. Duke knew he wasn’t the only one who had a problem with clowns, but Jason had seemed fine before. He wondered what Jason and Damian had been talking about.

By the time they caught up with the rest of the family Damian was back to his typical complaints and sarcasm. Tim turned a quick and appraising look their way as they re-joined the group, but seemed satisfied with what he saw. He gave Duke a quick smile, moving over to make room for him as Damian pushed his way to the front again. Duke joined Tim and Cullen near the back, where they were talking about Lord of the Rings.

“No, there’s just no way--nobody could aim a shot like that from horseback. I don’t care how good you are, you can’t predict the rate of movement accurately enough--” Tim was saying, and Duke grinned.

“Oh, but firing ten times in under a minute without missing a shot, that’s totally doable, right?” he teased. “No way your arm gets tired or anything like that. Drawing back on a longbow is easy.”

“Well,” said a voice from behind them, “Dinah tells me you actually can get that kind of firing rate on a modern compound bow. But it wouldn’t have been possible with a longbow.”

Duke turned to find Barbara Gordon looking up at the trio with a wide grin, rolling to a stop in front of them. “Is there going to be room for any other audience members with so many of us here?” she asked as Tim laughed and leaned down to hug her. He introduced her to Cullen, who looked awestruck, and then Duke stepped forward to introduce himself.

“Duke, right?” she asked before he had a chance to say anything, extending a hand to him. “It’s great to finally meet face to face.”

He shook her hand and nodded. “It really is. Glad you could make it.” 

Oracle’s voice in his ear had become familiar, but circumstances hadn’t allowed them to actually meet in the whirlwind of activity that seemed to be everyday life with Batman. He could see immediately why Tim and Dick both talked about her as though she were a force of nature; she looked at him like she could see right through him, and that sharp focus never left her eyes. Anyone who underestimated Babs because of the chair was making a grave mistake. 

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she said. “And I’m not going to let Gotham interrupt the evening, either. B’s not the only one with friends on call.”

By then everyone had realized that Babs was there, and Duke stepped back to let the others come up to greet her. He’d known, in theory, how many allies and partners the Bat had, but it was overwhelming to actually see the scope of it all. Most of his time had been spent either with Bruce or with the members of the group he went to school with. He still found himself somewhat awestruck by the older generation, the ones who had laid the groundwork for what he was learning. The crowd arriving for the show had grown around them, but they still seemed like a small army.

The lights flickered in front of the tent, calling the crowd down and reeling them in to the main entrance. Duke followed along with his friends as Kate and Alfred led the way towards the tent--Bruce had dropped back to talk to Babs. There was a moment of confusion over their stack of tickets, but soon enough a girl in a tutu was leading them down to their seats, front row on the center of the left side. Their guide moved as though touching the ground were only a momentary accident. Babs was positioned at one end, by the aisle, and Duke found himself at the other with Steph, Cass, and Harper.

Several clowns were in the ring while people filed in, tumbling and tossing a beach ball back and forth while a dog in a brightly colored neck ruff ran in circles and caught every third or fourth throw by bouncing the ball off its nose. Kids lined up against the edge of the ring and laughed, and Duke smiled to see them. Eventually, when most of the audience was settled, the dog leapt up and bit into the ball, popping it, then dashed out the front entrance with the deflated ball in tow. The clowns pantomimed despair at this sudden turn while the children along the edge laughed uproariously. As the clowns were taking off in pursuit the lights went down again, and this time only the center spot flicked back on.

The audience was still settling, so Duke didn’t think much of it when someone jostled into the empty seat on his left.

“Hey, new kid, tell Shock Jock to pass that popcorn down here,” whispered the man who had taken the extra seat. Duke started, looking over to find Jason grinning at him. Whatever had been on his mind when Duke saw him talking to Damian was gone from his expression. 

\---

The ringmaster emerged in a flash of light and a loud crash of cymbals, looking like he had stepped straight out of a pasted-up poster from the 40s in his red coat, shiny black boots, and tall silk top hat. He was good at what he did; his voice carried to every corner of the big top, and as he paced the ring and told the crowd what wonders were in store for them he carefully drew their attention away from a handful of workers quickly dragging props into place on the far side of the ring. It was impossible to tell how he knew when they were done, but the moment the last one disappeared between the stands he turned and swept his arm out to indicate ‘The Amazing Anastasia.’ 

She was a juggler and a gymnast, using a series of ladders and poles to step up from simple tricks to elaborate dares, keeping more and more balls in the air even as she turned herself upside down and caught every third ball with one foot. After her bow, the props were cleared out and the next act took her place while the ringmaster feigned increasing frustration with the clowns, whose dog had stolen a ball by climbing up one Anastasia’s ladders. 

A parade of spectacles followed. There was a man and a woman who threw handsprings back and forth from horseback, a troupe of children who used enormous rubber balls to perform a series of tumbling tricks, and two men who shared an elaborate dance using enormous hoops to swing elegantly through the air. After that the band played up the excitement again and a single woman emerged with a pair of tigers. They were sleek, without the rangy, ragged look Duke had expected from captive cats, and performed a variety of tricks with gusto in exchange for rewards of raw beef. Then there were more clowns, a trio of acrobats using long silk scarves hung from the ceiling, and finally the elephants, who paraded to a stately march while girls in tutus danced along their broad backs. 

After the applause died down, the lights shifted, drawing the eyes of the crowd up the central pole and into the rigging high above the ring. Duke could feel the collective gasp as the audience laid eyes on what many of them had come here for. There he was, perched on a platform scarcely large enough for him to stand poised on the balls of his feet; the famous, the tragic, the final Flying Grayson. He glittered under the lights in blue and gold, smiling widely and waving to the crowd before taking a bow and then sweeping his arms out wide to encompass the whole tent. Lights spread out to pick five other people out in the rigging, all dressed in matching gold with blue accents to contrast him, and they waved as well. Two of them were men larger than Dick, broad in the chest and shoulders, while the others, two women and a man, matched him better in their small stature and lithe build.

Logically, of course, Duke knew how a trapeze act was generally set up. The two larger men would be the ‘catchers,’ hanging from the ropes and bars as they swung their partners out into the open air and then caught them again without ever touching the ground. The other four, including Dick, would be the ‘flyers,’ doing most of their tricks in the empty space between breaths. He knew that groups of three--one catcher and two flyers, with the extra providing a grip for their companion’s return to the platform--were the standard, although a team of six was hardly unheard of. What he hadn’t counted on was the truly impossible grace with which all of them moved.

Watching Dick take to the air, still smiling like it was the best day of his life, Duke remembered something Jason had said the first time he’d met him out of costume. Jason had been talking to Dr. Thompkins, being chided for his habit of jumping off roofs. He’d grinned and said ‘Good thing I don’t jump off roofs, then, Doc. Guys like me, we fly.’ 

Duke knew now that he had lied. 

Jason was good--as good as any of them and better than several, good enough to work alone and keep himself alive--but he didn’t fly the way Dick did. Duke doubted anyone else could pull it off as he watched him glide and swing and somersault through the air as though gravity was nothing but a passing notion. It seemed to be a suggestion he didn’t really need to pay any attention to.

The whole tent was holding their breath, forgetting everything except the impossible vision of the flyers arcing perfectly through the air. They were all spectacular, but Dick was undoubtedly the star. The music that accompanied them was upbeat, quick and exciting, but instead of the scattered whoops and applause that had punctuated the earlier acts the crowd gave only a collective gasp of indrawn breath as Dick turned once, twice, then three and four times with nothing at all between his body and the sawdust below. Beside Duke, Jason had gone completely still; he glanced to the side and found the older man absolutely transfixed.

The crowd erupted into wild cheers when Dick landed neatly back on his starting platform, then swung one leg out as he took a final bow, poised perfectly on the ball of one foot. The light on him snapped off, and the other five took their turn to bow as well before disappearing into the darkness of the rigging.

Duke couldn’t really remember what followed the trapeze act; he felt a little bad. He was sure the rest of the circus worked every bit as hard, but there was a reason the flyers were the headline attraction. There were several more acts, bursts of color and noise, but Duke couldn’t have said exactly what they were. He hoped Bruce wasn’t planning to make a teachable moment of this by quizzing them on the details later.

The grand finale saw an absolute riot of performers in the ring, each acrobat, juggler, and tumbler throwing tricks and dodging artfully around their fellows doing the same. The trapeze artists returned, swinging and leaping in clean, simple arcs overhead. Dick hooked his knees over the flying bar and flipped upside down with a jubilant grin, reaching down to snatch a high juggling ball out of the air and tossing it down to a different performer before throwing himself to the catcher and back up to the board. The band hit a triumphant crescendo and everyone in the ring took a bow together before the lights dropped again and the tent went black.

\---

A few carefully placed workers helped to nudge the cheerful, bustling crowd out of the tent once the house lights came back up, but the front row was free to linger a little longer as the aisles cleared out. Duke stood up to stretch his legs, grinning at the excited chatter all along the row.

“Well, I think Titus could have done it even better--” said Damian, eager to show Kate a picture of the great dane on his phone when she took the bait and asked who Titus was.

“Did you see those guys with the rings?” Cullen was asking Harper, his face a bit flushed.

“I’ll bet you could do that with a jump line, too, in a pinch…”

“Has anybody seen my bag? I could have sworn--”

“--said he’d teach me that sometime, but I think I get it now that I’ve seen--”

Eventually, Bruce led the way back outside, chatting with Babs about the show. Alfred brought up the rear, as though to make sure no one went missing. Duke smiled at the way they worked together in even the simplest tasks, a well-oiled machine that ran on instincts and long standing trust. The night air was cool and fresh compared to the hot lights of the tent, and even with the sideshow closed down the lights all around twinkled cheerfully. Dick caught up with them as they loitered by the concessions, letting the rest of the crowd pass them by in the hurry to get to their cars. He still looked a bit like he was floating, and threw his arms around Bruce in a hug Duke didn’t think he would have tolerated from anyone else. 

As before, he made a point of thanking everyone individually for coming. The joy in every line of his body was impossible to ignore, and Duke laughed to see even Damian caught up in it as a smile spread across his face. Babs grinned and kissed Dick on the cheek when he leaned down to hug her, and they both laughed about it. Duke realized that Jason had disappeared again, but found that it didn’t surprise him. When Dick got to him, Duke had graduated from a handshake to a hug and couldn’t help but smile.

Finally, they had to part ways; Dick was staying with Haly’s for three more days to finish out the special engagement, and assured them that he’d take care of anything he’d missed after that. 

\---

Everyone had been buzzing with energy and excitement when they returned to the cars, but after twenty minutes on the dark, silent country roads things quieted down. Duke and Damian had taken the far back this time, letting Tim and Cullen sit a little closer together than they had before in the middle row. Bruce and Alfred were still talking softly in the front seat, but the rest of the car was quiet. Cullen was leaned against the window, watching the stars roll slowly by overhead, and Duke was pretty confident that Tim was too busy watching Cullen to notice the stars. Duke still didn’t want to have anything to do with whatever the two of them were or weren’t getting into, but he was beginning to think he would have to push Tim to say something before he died of pining.

Duke thought Damian had fallen asleep--they might all work nights, but the gentle movement of the car was soothing, tempting him to close his eyes--but just as he was about to settle back and give in to temptation Damian shifted and turned to look at him. Duke could only see him clearly when another car passed and the headlights flickered over them both, but he could tell that Damian was working up to say something from the tension in the line of his shoulders. When he stayed silent despite his obvious intention, Duke nudged him slightly with his shoulder.

“Hey, you alright?” he asked, voice pitched low so it wouldn’t carry to the front of the car. Damian frowned.

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” Damian asked, but there was something uncertain in his tone.

“I don’t mean to pry, but I saw you talking to Jason earlier--”

Damian’s posture stiffened.

“--and you seemed kind of upset,” Duke finished.

“That was nothing. I was--” Damian faltered, pausing to chew his bottom lip for a moment. “Well, actually… I was asking his assistance with a… personal matter.”

Duke turned to face Damian more, looking for cues in his face that were nearly impossible to read in the dark of the car. Another pair of headlights flashed past them, illuminating the troubled frown that creased Damian’s brow.

“Help with what?” Duke asked, before he could stop himself. “I mean, you don’t have to tell me,” he added quickly. “Just wanted to know you’re okay.”

Damian seemed to be weighing whether or not to answer the question, but after a pause so long Duke thought he had decided against it he spoke up again.

“Nightmares,” said Damian under his breath. “I’ve… I mean, Todd, he has… He knows what it’s like. He suffers from extreme night terrors. He made quite a scene when he was recuperating at the manor after his last run-in with Two-Face.”

Duke stayed quiet, waiting for Damian to go on. He had nightmares sometimes himself, but he’d already gathered that they would only get worse the longer he continued his work with Batman.

“I… I begin to find myself troubled by… especially severe nightmares,” Damian continued. “Todd alone shares this particular experiences, so I sought his advice.”

Duke thought about that, trying to figure out why Jason would be a better source of advice than anyone else--why wouldn’t Damian go to his father for help? Then it hit him; of course. How could he forget, with the way everyone danced carefully around the topic? Damian could only mean that he was having dreams about dying. Jason must have had them too. It was a horrifying thought; Duke knew what it was like to fear something that might happen, but how much worse would it be to know how it felt?

“Did he have any suggestions?” Duke asked after a long and uncomfortable pause. Damian looked out the window for a moment, then turned back toward him.

“He gave me the numbers for several 24-hour hotlines to call. He also suggested a League-approved therapist, but I don’t--I mean, I won’t need that,” said Damian, as though convincing himself that it was true. “A few bad dreams aren’t worth the fuss. I can manage them.”

Duke could feel the tension creeping back into Damian as he said that, and on an impulse he put an arm around his shoulders.

“Hey, man, it’s okay to need help sometimes,” he said, surprised to find that Damian didn’t immediately shove him away. “Maybe you’ll want to call them, maybe you won’t, but you have the option. And it’s not weakness to take advantage of that option.”

They sat like that for a while, Duke wondering if he should take his arm back but feeling Damian slowly relax under it. Finally, once the tension had bled away, Damian squeezed his hand.

“I… Well, thank you,” Damian said quietly. “Perhaps you have a point.”

Duke withdrew his arm, and to his surprise Damian scooted up closer to him, leaning against his shoulder. He wondered what the kid was doing at first, but he could feel his breathing slowing, evening out. Even vigilantes needed a break now and then; Duke was glad to know that Damian was asking for help when he needed it. Maybe the whole thing wasn’t as dysfunctional as it had looked at first. 

When he’d started, he just needed to do something, no matter how little it was, to keep himself going. Listening to Damian breathe slowly and the faint murmurs of Bruce and Alfred in the front seat, he was beginning to see that this wasn’t just something to do. It was a calling, something they all needed to keep the nightmares at bay, to sleep at all. Sometimes it seemed like the whole city--the whole world--was drowning around him. Every life saved helped push away the faces of the ones they couldn’t save. The crusade might never end, but he was beginning think that maybe they could really do some good, and not just keep their own heads above water.

The next time passing headlights flashed to illuminate them, he saw that Damian was asleep.


End file.
